Surinder Chopra is a middle-aged cloth merchant who has also been a loyal LIC customer for decades. He purchases a policy from his local LIC agent; however, recently he has also been getting some phone calls regarding some attractive LIC insurance plans. He decided to give one of these a try and purchased a LIC health insurance policy from a third-party website. He received policy documents just like any regular LIC policy and had no reason to suspect anything was amiss. When it came to using the policy; however, he was shocked to be informed after two months of the purchase, that the entire policy was fake and he has been a victim of LIC fraud. Over the past few years, the LIC fraud cases have multiplied, and today we will tell you how can you prevent falling victim to it, but let us start by giving some context first.
Since the reach of LIC is quite good and several policies are disbursed, it becomes quite easy for the scammers to target the policyholders for LIC cheating cases. This is why we commonly hear about LIC scams. Life Insurance Corporation of India warns the policyholders about such scams and also asks them to link their Aadhaar numbers with their respective policies through SMS.
When the policyholders link their Aadhaar numbers with their respective policies through SMS, the same will be accordingly updated on the website. LIC often warns its policyholders of misleading telephone calls from people who pose as LIC agents, ECI officials, IRDAI officials, etc., and offer attractive benefits.
Policyholders must know about the fact that LIC never shares information regarding bonuses with their policyholders over phone calls. In addition to this, LIC also does not encourage the policyholders to discontinue their current policies.
Do’s and Don’ts for avoiding LIC Frauds in India
Mentioned herein below are some of the dos and don’ts that you need to consider for protecting your policy.
Do’s
- Before buying a policy, you must verify the identity of the caller as well as the license that has been issued to him or her by the IRDAI
- To know the plan or details of the product, you should visit the website of LIC or you may visit your nearest LIC branch
- It is advised to all the policyholders that they register their policies on the LIC portal since it becomes much easier to manage their policies
- If you find a call or SMS suspicious, you can report the LIC agent fraud complaint by sending an email at co_crm_fb@licindia.com
- Another great option is to buy the policies online directly from LIC so that the customers can also save on the agent commission
- Once the policy has been purchased the customers should keep a track of the date of policy purchase and the 15-day free look period offered by the insurer so that they can cancel the policy if required.
Don’ts
- As a policyholder or a policy buyer, you should not entertain calls from any unverified source
- If you are being persuaded by the caller to surrender your policy in order to claim additional benefits, it is highly suggested that you should not entertain such calls
- You must not get tempted by promises that sound exaggerated regarding the benefits of life insurance policies. You should more importantly not entertain those who offer additional bonuses as well as higher benefits
- If an agent suggests that they can put their mobile number and email address in the policy instead of the customer’s, it can later become a problem as the customer will not receive communication sent directly by the company.
- You must not share details or any important information about your policy with any caller.
What to do if you are a victim of insurance fraud?
In case you have reasons to believe that you have been defrauded, you can also approach the IRDA. The complaint should be directed to the Grievance Redressal Cell of IRDA’s consumer affairs department. You can also make a call at 155255 or 1800 4254 732.
If you need further advice, another valuable resource would be approaching the Insurance Samadhan website. Here you can get expert advice on the kind of issue that you are facing and also get your complaints registered for receiving further resolutions.